Caress and Corrupt
by SergeantSarcasm7
Summary: Sequel for my story, Captivating Contrasts. (So please check it out before this one). *Spoilers for Captivating Contrasts* After Emma was turned into a serpentine, the ninja and Cosmic Legion must save her and turn her back to normal... somehow. However, the evil-turned-Seer-of-Stars, Emma and the Cosmic Master have different plans... Ninjaxocs Skalesxoc
1. Chapter 1 To Fall into the Wrong Hands

**Chapter 1;**_** So If I Were to Fall into the Wrong Hands…**_

Camille stood there.

With wavering eyes as small as specks of dust, Camille slowly melted and landed on her knees.

"_D__ie Kusine…_" (German for cousin)

It hurt in her chest and her heavy breathing was as controllable as the hiccups. While lying on her side, the cold metal floor stung her arm. Looking into a blurry landscape, her eyes could not bear the blubbery tears caressing her cheeks and the surface of her eyes.

Yet right outside the cage, the cage with bars being abused by a certain scientist we all know, was a ring of keys. Camille noticed this

Something unknown broke the tension in the nearly pitch air. All the ninja huddled towards the scarred-for-live robot. Jay was flabbergasted because of the disturbing cut inside Zane's robotic flesh. Jay could see it went though his skin and some metal casing, Jay feared that it could have destroyed important parts of his brother.

After Camille unlocked the cage, Dr. Julien rushed outside to get to Zane.

Nya stood beside Jay also looking at the mess created by the Nindroid's… Zane's… the seer they all grew to love. Nya looked away and glanced at everyone's faces.

"WE NEED TO GET ZANE TO THE BOUNTY!" Nya yelled.

Everyone's shock dissipated and everyone nodded. Cole picked the Nindroid up.

The dark night air cradled everyone in a fearful panic. Cole led the way, holding Zane carefully.

As the deep pain speared her stomach and as her legs ached, deep pants erupted from Laura's lungs. Concerned, Lloyd slowed his pace. Laura's hazel eyes shined vividly in pain. Laura stopped running and leaned down. Holding her stomach, Laura's eyes watered. Lloyd watched everyone else run ahead of them.

Lloyd walked in front of Laura, who looked upwards at the ninja, "Laura… do you… need help?"

Fatigued, Laura held her stinging stomach and straightened her back. Laura contemplated.

"No, I am fine… I think I can make it to the bounty…"

Looking ahead of her, Laura continued her pace. Lloyd looked at her worried but he followed her giving her encouragement.

Zane was heavier than he looked. Luckily, Cole could pick up a car if he had to. Cole was almost at the bounty when he looked at Zane again. Unnerved, Cole noticed Zane's eyes were still wide from shock. The pale icy blue eyes were suspended in time and seemed lifeless.

Cole did not know much about technology, but judging by Jay and Dr. Julien, Cole figured Zane was definitely still alive but just… frozen and probably he was just turned off or something.

Nonetheless, Zane's eyes were terrifying and lifeless.

Trailing a muddy mixture of blood and sand on the deck, Cole rushed inside the bounty and took Zane to his father's room.

"Place him on the bed." The doctor said following him inside. Dr. Julien looked at the deep cut and at his son's eyes. He gently closed them and examined the wound. Sparks jumped around. Jay entered the room when Dr. Julien opened Zane's chest. Assessing the damage, Dr Julien and Jay looked inside.

"Emma cut in real deep…" Jay said appalled.

* * *

Cole left the room. Entering the bridge, his pensively brooding countenance was manifest to everyone not helping Dr. Julien with Zane.

Cece sighed, "Can't everyone be present on the bounty for once?"

"This isn't the best time, Cece. Sooner or later, something bad will definitely to either Emma or us. We need to find some sort of cure and get her back." Anne said.

"Hey, if Dr. Julien helped make this serum, wouldn't he know how to help Emma?" Laura asked and then drank some water.

"If he remembers, what I did with the serpentine is a bit blurry. But we need to wait until he finishes repairing Zane." Nya said.

"Is Emma's boyfriend going to be ok?" Everyone looked at Camille. Nya walked over to her.

"Of course he is… he'll just need time to recover, that's all…" Nya said. Nya looked at Cole. "We should contact Camille's parents and tell them what happened."

"Do we tell Andrew about…? Emma…?" Lloyd asked.

Nya paused and before she could answer, Jay slammed open the door into the bridge.

The look in Jay's blue and brown eyes was troubling, "Nya, we need your help…"

Nya was in shock; if they needed her help then the situation must be worse than she thought.

"W-What do I need to—"

"HURRY AND GET NYA, JAY!" Dr. Julien yelled.

Nya rushed out of the bridge with no more questions and left everyone else in a force field of dread.

* * *

Cece looked at all of the people in the bridge. They were as silent as the letter 'k' in knife. After studying the situation carefully, she looked at herself. Being dragged by the snakes sure messed her up. Cece sighed and realized everyone was just waiting. "I'm going to take a shower…" Cece said and left the room.

In the shower, Cece let the water form a mask cascading down her face. The spray plopped on her head like heavy rain.

Laura noticed everyone was as quiet as she was if not more so. She felt anxiety burn her whole body. It felt like a boney hand had a death grip on her shoulders. All she wanted to do was curl up. She wanted to be squeezed to death.

Thoughts drained the life inside of her and jumbled, forming a mess and a headache. Laura looked at Lloyd.

In Laura's eyes, he had shoulders that could carry the world. Lloyd probably would not agree with that though. Lloyd's blond hair, even if it was covered in sweat and dirt, shined as it came to shore in waves. Laura's eyes sculpted every curve on his innocent face.

Lloyd felt eyes on him. Watching him look at her, Laura felt pain crash against her chest as her heart pounded. Inside, Laura's insides were cowering fear. Laura stumbled against the table as Lloyd's eyes looked at her worried. Laura gripped the table edge.

Laura contemplated why. Like a flood, fear would overwhelm her, even if she was against it. A reaction she could not control, even if her mind disagreed. Disagreeing because she did not only feel fear, but because she felt the emotion she feared so much.

Laura was hyperventilating and earned the attention of the whole room. Feeling the eyes of everyone on her, Laura blindly rushed out of the room. Laura sought after some sort of comfort. Laura blew through the hallways like a heat seeking missile.

Entering her room, Laura's hazel eyes darted around the space. Grabbing one or two large comforters, Laura burst though the closet and huddled in a corner. The pressure on her whole body felt good like rubbing your temples when you had a headache. Unnoticed tears streamed out of her eyes while she took in deep breaths. Laura's mind's eye flashed images in front of her, reminding her that she has felt this fear countless times before. It reminded her of how she was a prisoner of her fear…

Every time she felt it, it got worse.

She hoped that since she was in such a friendly habitat, despite the physical danger, it would all fade away like chalk in the rain or a sandcastle on a beach. Laura counted on her life in the past to be completely eradicated.

That's the funny thing about hope. Hope is something you ask for, like writing your own destiny. Yet, fate sometimes won't allow it. Well… to paint a picture, to captivate audiences from everywhere, and to create contrast, you have to paint with light and dark colors.

Immediately, Lloyd followed Laura out the door. He heard a door slam shut. He ran inside the bedroom but he didn't have to open a door to get in. Lloyd looked at the closet.

Light poured inside the small and confined space. The light reflected off the water in Laura's eyes and on her cheeks.

Lloyd was shocked. Kneeling down, Lloyd was level with the curled up sixteen year old girl. Besides for him—even though he obviously didn't look it—Laura was the youngest of all the permanent residents on the bounty.

Looking at Lloyd, Laura was not calmed down. Her heart's speed elevated and her face flushed. Despite the fear, Laura admired Lloyd's vivid green eyes defying the darkness.

Lloyd felt like he needed to do something. There was an awkward mass forming inside of him. Something in her eyes was a fearful cry for help.

Laura felt like every thing was too spaced out. Everything was being evaporated into thin air. Laura looked at Lloyd, looked at his strong arms and shoulders that could carry the world, although Lloyd probably wouldn't agree having been raised around the ninja. Laura could only reach out a hand…

* * *

When he was first conscious, Zane saw darkness for a long second before he automatically opened his eyes.

Trying to get up, pain struck him in the chest. Loads and loads of information past though his servers and he couldn't move for a moment.

After that is when he noticed.

Zane's eyes had scanned the area before, identifying it as his father's room. Thoughts of his father filled his mind and his father was asleep on a chair.

Then, Zane looked at himself.

Zane was startled at first and saw his chest panel opened with the door removed.

However, this was not what startled him.

Processing his motherboard, Zane's eyes were locked on the large power cord spilling out from his chest. Following the cord, he looked to see it trail out of view. _'Why is this…?' _Zane wondered.

Zane heard the door open and saw Jay.

Looking at Zane surprised, Jay exclaimed "GUYS! ZANES AWAKE!" and woke up Doctor Julien. As people piled into the room, Zane searched for an explanation.

While Zane swung his legs off the bed, his father smiled at him relieved. Zane stared at everyone and everything perplexed. Suddenly his father knelt by him and asked him some questions.

"What is your name?"

"Zane"

"Do you know who I am?"

Zane was annoyed at first, but then realized his father was running manual tests.

"Yes, father."

"Do you know who these people are?" Dr. Julien said gesturing to the ninja, Cosmic Masters, and elders in the room.

"Yes, I could list their names if you like."

"No, I will take your word for it." His father paused. "Do you know you are?"

"Zane, White Ninja of Ice and, as Jay calls me, Nindroid."

"What is the last thing you remember before you woke up?"

Zane paused as memories flushed inside his head. His eyes spoke volumes of pain while he hesitated.

"We were battling the serpentine and had retreated to the bounty. After we set off again to engage the enemy and retrieve Skales' staff…" Zane started for the easy stuff first and then felt darkness from the vivid memories. "We were captured. Skales had us lined up… I behaved… in a very uncharacteristic manner… and Emma—" Zane stopped. Looking down at his chest, Zane recalled why… "Became, I assume, a test subject of Skales and underwent Metamorphosis. Emma transformed into a snake and… slashed me in the chest. That is the last thing I remember."

Dr. Julien's face was flushed with sadness while he remembered the deep pain of everything happening.

"Is there something wrong with my memories, father?" Zane wished it was true.

"…No…"

Realization punched Zane hard.

"What were the damages to my system…?"

The words were stuck in Dr. Julien's throat.

Jay spoke instead, "Well, uh, Zane. Luckily Emma did not dig deep enough to damage anything besides your switches and wires… The exception was your power core. It was severely damaged. Me, Dr. Julien, and Nya—"

"Dr. Julien, Nya and I" Zane corrected

"—Whatever… Dr. Julien, Nya and I with the help of everyone on the bounty had to gather materials to temporarily power your system until we find a replacement or Dr. Julien somehow fixes the old one. You probably won't be able to leave the bounty for a while."

"…I understand…"

"Zane…?" Nya asked after a small period of silence. "Are you ok?"

"You heard Jay; I just won't be able to leave the bounty for a while."

"No, Zane. Are _you _ok?"

Zane thought about it. If his systems were not damaged then why would Nya ask—it then dawned on the Nindroid. Slowly, tears streamed down the Nindroids face.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait! I kind of had to stop revising Captivating Contrasts because it was taking too long... A lot has happened between the time I finished Captivating Contrasts... Mostly I have gotten into a lot of Anime. Ninjago also premiered...! Anyway, I told someone I would post this in June... I picked the last Sunday possible... Please Review! I hope it was worth the wait!**

**SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!**


	2. Chapter 2 Anyone Even Our Enemies

**Chapter 2;**_** …Anyone… Even Our Enemies…**_

An evil grin shined on her new-found scaly face. Skales was terrified. He could not say anything, caught in the middle of submission and domination. Skales thought he should give her an order having changed her into his kind to do so, but the words were caught in his throat.

Glimmering with insanity, **Emma**'s grin grew larger, "I would be surprised if you still felt like I would just follow your lead, Skales… At least Pythor had some sort of purpose and plan. What is yours?"

Skales thought about it. Perhaps if he were to turn the other ninja and Cosmic Legion members into snakes… but what good would that do for him? **Emma** is living proof; having been only fully transformed for a few minutes and already acting as if she was in charge: it was like him handing over command on a silver platter. He thought he probably was doing that already.

**Emma** took Skales' silent pondering as an answer. "Exactly my point, what I would suggest is we rebuild the serpentine empire."

Skales finally spoke; "And how will you do that?"

"_We_ will gather allies first. Then we will rebuild Ouroboros."

"Why would you want to help us? Aren't you angry?"

"Oh Skales… This is not the same soul in control of this fleeting embodiment. I simply need a cover… I simply need to follow the plan of the Cosmic Master. Luckily, she likes the serpentine a bit more than humans sometimes… They can be more… reasonable."

Skales was perplexed and furious. "Who put you in charge!? I was the one who turned you into a serpentine! You should be following my orders!"

Swaying smoothly, **Emma** traversed the inside of the helicopter and looked down at Skales. Holding his chin, **Emma** held Skales' faces centimeters apart away from hers. Skales gasped. Intimidated and slightly aroused, Skales would be sweating if he was human. Besides for the different hair lines, he could hardly tell the difference between **Emma** and Emilia.

"You pathetic fool, always trying to climb to the top. How about you stop climbing before I shoot you down?"

The words rolled off the tongue like satin and rose petals while it petrified the snake king.

**Emma** enjoyed intimidating Skales and it helped that her transformation made her grow few inches taller. Obviously, she was no Pythor, but her neck looked longer. **Emma** released Skales from her grip. Looking at herself, she noticed the torn navy blue rags that addressed her body. Perhaps she should go native? **Emma** thought against it, still feeling her previous modesty.

Wandering around the helicopter, **Emma** found the gun Skales used. Inspecting it, she noticed how familiar it looked. Searching through her human memories, she recognized the hidden symbol of doctor Julien. While she explored these memories, she found herself thinking of a nindroid. She felt her heart flutter but immediately buried the old feelings.

Eventually, the helicopter stopped and **Emma** and Skales got off. It was nighttime in Ninjago city and they had errands to run.

* * *

_Emma_ did not ponder where she was laying, but if she did and looked at the floor she would see shards of glass in a river of crimson fluid. The stained white walls around her seemed to be a prison of consciousness. Her clothing was torn and drenched.

Yet _Emma_ focused on her wrists.

Binding her ankles and wrists were shackles that looked like metal. The metal was however a deep metallic red that faded into a pitch. The chains sank into the river below her.

The pain of lying on her back was caused by the shards of glass suspended in the stream of red flowing into the wall. _Emma_ dipped a finger in the fluid but felt no current.

Her whole body ached, and the pain was distributed equally. Her whole body felt the same sensation.

_Emma_'s blue eyes sharpened from their haze. Sitting up, _Emma_ thought pensively.

Suddenly, _Emma_ saw the dark drops on her torn skirt like rain falling onto asphalt. Feeling liquid running down her cheeks like oil, _Emma_ blinked but could not stop the black liquid that seemed to increase in volume.

_Emma_ stood up. The black puddle in her palm overflowed while more tears escaped her tear-ducts.

Despite the pain, her thoughts were as clear as crystal. Wiping her hand on her skirt, _Emma_ listened for any sound at all. She could only hear her own thoughts until she heard…

…

Zane's screech rang in the room like a church bell. _Emma_ tried to cover her ears but it did nothing.

_Emma_ sank inside the red and the shards dug into her skin. Suddenly, a pair of arms pulled her out and the ringing stopped.

All she could do was screaming. Scream and flail every limb she got. _Emma _tried to close her eyes to hide from the torture but every time she closed her eyes, slowly the darkness would fade away and she would see everything that was around her. But as she was pulled out of the red fluid, she felt scaly hands on her body.

Dark images of the serpentine flashed in her mind while she turned away.

"For heaven's sake, would you stop?"

Immediately, Emma recognized the voice. It was not the Cosmic Master's though.

'Emilia?' Emma thought.

"Who else would it be?"

Emma stopped moving and saw the ghostly Anacondrai figure. 'What is going on?'

"Like you don't know…"

It dawned on Emma and she remembered everything. Emilia frowned at Emma's self pity that was forming at the moment.

"Sorry to be your **pity party pooper**. But we both got jobs to do…"

'Right…' Emma thought and looked around the room. 'Just as I imagined it would be.'

"But it wasn't really you imagining it though, huh?"

'You know, I hoped sometimes I was just hallucinating and eventually the ninja would take me to a mental hospital… Guess sometimes you don't get what you hope for… and yet people hope still away…'

"It is though incredible what humans do with hope…"

'Huh, I guess the serpentine haven't had the same luck.'

"It amazes me you can still believe in luck at times like this."

'Me too…' Emma and Emilia talked like old friends. 'It's a pity we only talk about how much life stinks, huh?'

'So, what am I doing outside?'

"Don't remind me… I love Skales, but he really is something…"

'At least you didn't have to scratch him in the chest.'

"Right now I wish I could."

'I wish the Cosmic Master could have at least kept some mind-tea in here or something.' Emma paced the bloody river holding her head. 'Perhaps I should work on getting out of here. Sigh… but at what cost? What future lies outside these white walls…?'

* * *

After hearing a large crash, Dareth first noted the darkness in the room. His just awoken eyes glanced at his clock. It was way too early for this. Then he heard a second crash and yell; Dareth could only hear the word "imbecile."

Realizing the severity of the situation at hand, Dareth shot out of his bed. Before he left the room, he grabbed the nun-chucks from under his pillow.

Entering the dojo, Dareth confronted Skales, some purple snake chick he did not recognize, and two other snakes around them. Dareth decided it was time for them to know who they were messing with and started spinning his nun-chucks around. The two other snakes came towards him and with his dumb-luck; he managed to hit them with his nun-chucks without hurting himself.

The Anacondrai slowly bent to the ground. Dareth was a little too 'distracted' to notice her grabbing two daggers.

Flinging the knives to the wall of the dojo, **Emma** pinned Dareth to the wall. The last thing Dareth saw was an evil smile. Dareth wondered why her fist was getting larger, and then it hit him.

**Emma** glared at the two unconscious snakes and gave a second thought to practically saving their species.

"At least we won't have to worry about any coppersss."

"Not yet, Skales"

Sirens and red and blue lights flew past the window. Emma smirked. The distraction was working perfectly.

* * *

"The serpentine are everywhere in the Ninjago mall. Strangely, they are only robbing tea shops and clothing stores."

Everyone in the bridge, Anne, Cole, Laura, Lloyd, Cece, Kai, Jay, Misako, Sensei Wu, and Lord Garmadon, heard Nya say what was on the screen making the alarm go off. The moment they heard tea, they knew exactly who was behind this.

"Some people just don't change." Anne said.

"Can't we get any sleep?" Lloyd said. They had just got to bed when the alarm went off; it was 5 am, September 2nd.

"Let's go…" Cole said leaving the bridge with bags forming under his eyes and a scowl.

The bounty hovered over the mall and the Ninja and Cosmic Legion jumped off the bounty and onto the roof.

"There were way too many snakes on the ground. We will have to get in the mall through the roof." Nya said and they entered the mall by the means of the roof access.

After going down the stairs, they eventually made it inside the mall. Where they were, it was quiet. While they ran towards the tumult, they looked at the shops and looked for the ones with snakes in them.

"Looks like their hungry." Jay said watching the snakes run amuck in the food court.

"Jay, Cece, Anne, you search the northwest area of the mall and Jay, Laura, Lloyd, Kai, and I will get the southeast." Cole said. The mall's food court was near the center.

"NINJAGO!" Kai, Lloyd, Jay, and Cole yelled forming their tornados.

In sync, the Cosmic Legion slammed their hands together and lit up the mall with their respective colors.

Although there were many serpentine at the mall, it was child's play compared to what happened the day before. Sooner or later, the mall was snake-less. Yet this did occupy a few hours of their time. They made it back to the bounty at around seven thirty in the morning.

When they returned, Zombies entered the bounty. Nobody gave a shit about no possible 'bigger plan'. They just went straight to bed.

* * *

Invisible, **Emma** traversed the grey pod of the prison. While avoiding guards, **Emma **thought of something, _'Reminds me of my middle school…' _

Entering the vestibule, **Emma **looked through the bars. Since Skales was probably hypnotizing some poor soul, the prison doors opened automatically. Grasping the helmet in her hands, **Emma **saw bright green eyes in the dark corner of the room.

**Emma **dropped the helmet on the floor. Kicking it inside the room, a black hand immediately grabbed it.

"Kozu… I am glad we get to meet at last…"

* * *

**[edit] Lol... I thought Saturday was Sunday! I even apologized for updating late in the day! Sorry about that, guess you guys got an early update! [Edit] I hope this chapter was good... Mostly the serpentine and stuff. I am loosing some confidence in my stuff lately... my writing and art when I read/look at it does not feel good... especially my art though. Please Review!**

**thank you 1captain obvious, DJMidge, Toon Friend, mykindleisawesome, and wolfpurpledinosaur for your reviews!**

**SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!**


	3. Chapter 3 A Funny Thing Called Destiny

**Chapter 3;**_** a Funny Thing Called Destiny**_

From the darkness of the cell, red and white emerged. Perplexed, General Kozu stared at the helmet questionably. "Why give me the helmet? Why not control me yourself?"

"My goal is not to control, but to assist."

"Assist….?"

"We all have sovereignty ruling us, but we do have control over our actions. You are being given power over yourself, but understand you are no exception to destiny."

General Kozu looked into the two dark endless pits and complied. **Emma **looked outside the vestibule. It will be harder to get out than to get in.

**Emma **murmured a countdown, "three… two..." loud alarms stirred in the air like angry bees, "one."

**Emma **dragged the stone warrior out of the vestibule and out of the pod seconds before the doors of the rest of the prisoners opened. Waiting outside the entrance to the pod, were large and buff guards.

**Emma **smiled insanely at Kozu, "This won't be too hard on you, would it?"

Kozu held up all four of his arms in front of him while Emma reached down her leg to grab a few daggers. Rushing foreword like battering ram, the wall of prison guards ambushed the escaping convict and accomplice.

**Emma **stabbed one in the chest. Then Kozu knocked another one in the face. **Emma** retracted the dagger and threw it at the one behind the first one. Kozu rammed his head into the fourth one, must have been painful with his new helmet and all.

**Emma** slashed the last one twice and kicked him in the crotch.

The hallway was clear. Racing like horses, they turned the corner and met with Skales. From there, they escaped the building.

* * *

Playing peak-a-boo outside the curtains, the rising sun lit the Cosmic Legion's chambers. Cece's eyes, crusty with eye boogers, slowly opened. Cece grabbed the blankets and curled into a cocoon. After a while, Cece lost hope of falling asleep again and checked the time. It was 6am. "Look at that, I slept for practically a whole day." Sitting up in her bed, Cece looked to see she was still in her uniform. "We were tired…" Cece looked at the bathroom and around the room. She was the first one up. "I'm going to take a shower…"

Eventually, the sound of the shower woke the rest of the Cosmic Masters.

"DON'T TAKE ALL THE HOT WATER, CECE!" Anne yelled. At least she removed her armor before going to bed. Taking quick showers, everyone took their turn in the shower.

Cece brushed through her wet hair and looked in the mirror. She wore skinny jeans and a shirt. "I bet Sensei Wu didn't let the ninja sleep for a whole day like us…"

"I don't know, that would mean he wouldn't get as much sleep as we did too." Laura suggested. "I hope though someone is making breakfast." Laura put her wet hair in a pony tail and tried to fix her wet bangs so they would not look horrible. Laura then looked around the room. "Where did Nya go?"

* * *

"I'm sorry again Nya, I simply cannot leave my father's room. This power supply I am getting is not quite enough to walk around a lot. Besides, the cord is not long enough to reach the kitchen."

While she mixed the pancake batter, Nya held the phone up to her ear, "its fine Zane. This will probably help me learn a thing or two in the kitchen…" Nya listened closely to the instructions Zane gave her. Zane mostly focused on the task on giving directions but Nya was concerned for Zane's well-being.

Jay smelt the pancakes and bacon being baked in the kitchen. Poking his head outside the door, he saw Nya and heard "Ok… uh-huh… really?" Nya was talking on the phone.

"Hi Nya…" Jay said and the samurai turned her head to face Jay. Nya smiled. Jay felt his heart flutter and his face redden. "What are you doing?"

"Hold on a sec, Zane." Nya covered the part of the phone she spoke into, "Well, since Zane couldn't leave to make breakfast, he asked if I could cook for him. He is giving me directions." Nya looked at the pancakes on the pan, "I don't think I was able to perfect his recipe, but I think I got close enough."

"That's awesome!" Jay said. "Do you need any help?"

"Nah, I am almost done… wait, could you set the table?"

"Sure."

Nya turned her attention back to pancakes. "Oops."

"What happened?"

Nya flipped the pancakes, "They are just a little overcooked. It is fine."

"Oh, that's fine. Were you talking to Jay?"

"Yeah, he's setting the table."

"Good." Zane said. Looking around the room, Zane was pretty bored. He didn't have much to do besides watch his father work on his power source and tidy up. They were able to move a lot of his father's stuff and managed to fit it all. Zane studied a picture of himself, his father, and his falcon. Zane smiled.

As he put the picture down, Zane noticed a book was below it. Out of curiosity, Zane picked it up. There was nothing on the front or the back, only a black hard-back cover. Zane decided to open it.

_I knew everything would happen. I knew most of the details of that battle. Laura being stabbed… Us being captured…. I saw the defeated look in all of our eyes. I knew that in the end, Zane would get hurt and I… would betray everyone._

_I am sorry. There are events that must happen for reasons I do not know. There are only so many things I can say. Those things are said for a purpose so that everything happens. _

_I left this here knowing that you would pick it up, Zane, while you were talking on the phone with Nya. There are things I never got to say that are still needed to be said._

_Sincerely,_

_Emma_

"Zane…? Zane…?" Nya said on the phone.

"Sorry, Nya… what do you need?"

"You were quiet for a while."

"Oh, well… I found something in my father's room…"

"Would it be ok to ask what it is?"

Zane was quiet, "I will explain it later."

* * *

Cece, Anne, and Laura were the first to enter the dinning room besides for Jay and Nya. Cece and Anne sat next to each other and Laura sat at the end of the table. Laura glanced at Lloyd's chair next to her and released a deep breath. Laura moved her shoulders to relax them and leaned back in her chair. Sensei Wu, Misako, and Lord Garmadon entered the room as well.

Cece yawned, "So Jay, how long have you been up?"

"Eh, not that long… today is the third right?"

"Yes." Anne said.

Nya brought in the pancakes and bacon, "Where is everyone else?"

Led by the powerful smell of bacon, Lloyd, Kai, and Cole walked through the door and sat at the table. Nya grabbed Dr. Julien and Zane's plates and left the room.

Jay watched Nya leave. He was relieved to have her back. Jay sympathized with Zane and hoped he could get back on his feet soon.

Meanwhile, Cece gently kicked Kai's foot. Repeating that, Cece started to annoy Kai and he started kicking back.

Anne sighed, "You're starting to act like children…" After an evil chuckle, Cece rolled her eyes and started to eat her food.

When Nya reentered the room and sat back down by Jay and before she started eating, Nya said, "While we were fighting in the mall, a prisoner escaped from the Ninjago city jail… it was Kozu."

The Ninja were quite shocked.

"Kozu…?" Laura asked.

"Kozu was the general of the stone army. He was the only one that survived the final battle. What about Dareth's helmet?" Cole said.

"That was stolen right before. Guards claim to have seen Skales and a purple female serpentine with the general while he was escaping." Nya said.

"What would Emma want with Kozu?" Kai asked.

"I do not know… Zane did not know either. We hardly know what is going inside Emma's head right now. She did not appear to be fighting it when she escaped through the helicopter… Perhaps Skales is controlling her, not by hypnotism obviously."

"By the way, did Dr. Julien say anything about the stuff that turned Emma into a snake or is he too busy…?" Cece asked.

"No… He didn't say anything." Nya said.

Cece picked up a slice of bacon, taking a bite out of it. In her back pocket, her phone vibrated. Franticly taking it out, Cece looked at the caller ID. Cece cursed inside her head, almost saying it out loud. Cece answered it while she left the room.

Noticing Cece's unhappy visage, Laura looked to Anne. Anne had two theories.

"May have been one of her ex-boyfriends…" Anne thought out loud. Kai stared at Anne and Cece stormed back into the room fuming. "Probably not though... Uh, what's up, Cece?" Anne asked.

Cece sighed, "My family heard we were in Ninjago city and they wanted to see how I was doing."

"They are coming to visit? When?" Anne asked.

"In like an hour."

"You don't look really happy about it, Cece." Nya said.

Cece finished chewing some bacon, "I am a bit of a black sheep in the family."

Everyone besides Anne was envisioning a family completely different from Cece; serious and sane people. While everyone was practically finished eating, hardly ten minutes later, a loud knocking was heard at the door.

"They never tell me when they are _actually _coming…" Cece said walking to the door. Knock, knock, knock, knock, pause, knock, knock, knock, knock, pause, it repeated, or at least, that is what Cece heard. **(Guess what reference I made) **

Cece opened the door.

Glamorous sparkles flew in air as the romantic breeze blew through dirty blonde hair.

Hugging her child ferociously, Cece's mother said, "Cecelia! My bay-bee!" Cece groaned.

"…Cecelia…?" said Kai following Cece to the door. Cece's mother saw him and the rest of the ninja poking their heads out of the door.

"Oh Cecelia!" her mother said.

"CECE!" Cece yelled.

"Dear, I named you Cecelia and I intend on calling you that for the rest of your life." Her mother then looked back at the ninja. "Cecelia...! Which one of these gorgeous men is yours?" her mother then whispered in her daughter's ear, "or have you won over them all?" Cece opened her mouth to object. "No wait. Let me guess…"

Walking past Kai in the hallway, Cece's mother's green eyes looked over all the ninja in the room. "This one, right?" she said, pointing to Cole. While Cole shook his head no, Anne came in from the kitchen, "Anne, sweetheart!"

Anne could not back into the kitchen in time. "Tell me, are you still single? Or did my daughter set you up?"

"_MOM!_"

"Call me mother, dear."

"Alright, _mother. _For a second can you just stay out of Anne and mines love lives!?"

"Like, you're one to talk Cece." Anne said.

"Not helping!" Cece said.

"As your mother, I have to know your love life." Suddenly, her mother had a deathly scolding glare on her visage.

"Well… Mrs. Jackson I don't think Cece is really _dating_ anyone at the moment." Anne admitted. Cece's mother looked at Anne in disbelief.

"THAT MEANS MOST OF THEM ARE SINGLE!" Cece jumped when she heard her sister behind her.

"Isabella!" Cece turned around, "I though you had a boyfriend!"

"Well we broke up." Isabella walked over to Kai, who was kind of shocked. Isabella looked at him from head to toe. "I'm surprised… I would have expected you would have a boyfriend, little sister, especially, living with such… hot ninja guys. Wait… what if the reason is… are you…?"

"NO! We're just… uh… really focused on saving Ninjago! We are too busy to do anything…" Cece dragged her sister away from Kai.

"Excuses…. Excuses… really Cece, I am disappointed in you." Isabella said. "I am pretty sure something like that would not stop you… hmm…"

"Can we change the subject, please?" Cece begged, face red and all.

"Hm, maybe you are just too shy… daaaaw… Cecelia has found true love…" Isabella teased.

"Which leaves us to guess which one she likes" Cece's mother said. "Spike over there is my second guess." Cece's face grew even redder as she stormed to the Cosmic Legion's chambers. "Guess I got that one right."

* * *

**And Cece's last name is Jackson! I have to admit, Jones won the poll but I realized too late I cannot use Jones because I _hear_ that name _a little too much_. Cecelia Jackson! Thanks for everyone who voted! Thank you Toon Friend and Mykindleisawesome for the reviews! **

**The internet hates me. I do not know what i did to it... perhaps my computer ticked it off or something. (sigh...)**

**SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!**


	4. Chapter 4 Mysteries yet to be Found

**Chapter 4;**_**Mysteries Yet to be Found**_

Cece sighed. Sliding down the wall in her room, she sat back against the door. Cece placed her cooler hands on her red hot face. _'Is Hothead rubbing off on me or something?' _Cece thought. _'Nah… its just… them.' _

She was the youngest of the family. She had three older sisters and one older brother. The eldest was Angela who was a model in Ninjago city, which was probably why they were here. Isabella was the second oldest… she probably irritated Cece the most. Being the youngest is hard enough having such large expectations. Yet Isabella… and Cece looked so much alike; same color of eyes and hair. Yet Cece always thought Isabella was prettier. The only thing is Isabella looked more like their stunning mother. Cece looked more like their dad. There were also the twins, Madison and Mason

They all had blonde hair, some dirty blonde which came from the mother, and some bleach blonde which came from the father. They had green, blue, or a-color-in-between eyes.

Although they seemed to be alike, Cece still felt so much more different. She wanted to create. She did not want to be some model. Yet Cece felt left out of her family and she was treated a little bit like a disappointment.

Isabella did everything better than her. Her hair would shine brighter. Her way with people was smooth and had not a tinge of awkwardness. Her eyes could hypnotize anyone with just a glance.

As she leaned against the door, Cece felt horrible. She felt like a failure. Deep inside this void she called her 'soul' she felt selfish and alone left to drown in the high expectations of her mother and in the shadow of her older siblings. Yet she is saving Ninjago… she has to get some points for that.

Then she realized something. She left her _family _alone with the ninja, the Cosmic Masters, and Kai… Cece bolted upright and left the room.

* * *

Kai leaned against a wall near the kitchen entrance, "Cecelia…?"

"Her full name is Cecelia Jade Jackson." Anne said standing by the fire wielder.

"I'm gonna call her that from now on." Kai said watching Cece's mother talking with Sensei Wu in the corner of his eye.

"I wouldn't if I were you… It really bugs her."

"All the more reason to call her that: It's called payback."

Dead serious, Anne turned, looking Kai in the eyes. "_**Don't.**_" Kai's eyes widened and he nodded his head.

Kai looked over to Isabella, who was attempting to flirt with Cole. "Are you going to let her do that?"

"Do what?" Anne looked at Isabella. Then they both heard a door slam against the wall and saw Cece burst inside the living room.

"Never mind, second wind." Kai said as Cece dragged her sister away from Cole and settling her by their mother and the other adults.

"What's the deal?" Isabella said. Cece replied with a fiery look in her eyes. Isabella raised an eyebrow, "You can't have them all to yourself, you know." She said as if they were pirates fighting over buried treasure.

"That isn't the point!"

"What is the point? From what I have heard, nobody here besides Jaya is really in a relationship at the moment, like seriously; make a move or something."

"What do you know about us?"

"Keeping your feelings to yourself is what's holding you al back, ya know. I have seen it many times."

Cece sighed. Isabella patted Cece on the shoulder. "Well, I guess I can see why you like him." Isabella looked over at Kai. "He still would have been my second choice though. Are you trying to set Anne up with that Cole guy?"

"Yeah, it has been a pain in my—" Cece's mother knocked Cece in the head before she could finish.

"Well then." Isabella said dragging Cece, Kai, Cole, and Anne into a big group. "How about you four go on a quadruple date?"

"WHAT?" The four said all at once.

"Ya'll heard me, you four go on a _qua-dru-ple-date_…!"

"Now wait a second, Izzie." Cece said.

"We are way to busy for that kind of thing…" Anne said.

"Did you two even bother to ask if they would want to go on a date?" Isabella brought the attention to Cole and Kai. Kai scratched the back of his neck.

Cold looked at Anne and back to Isabella, "I hate to admit it. I know your intentions are good and all, but we really do not have any time to go out. You see our brother, Zane is injured and one of the Cosmic Masters… it is hard to explain. We cannot just go out and have fun right now." Cole looked at Anne. "Though… if the circumstances were different. I would be very happy to have gone."

Isabella looked at Cece and opened her mouth. Before she could respond her mother went up behind her.

"I do not like this, Cecelia."

Cece turned around, "What?"

"This environment you are in. I do not see Ninjago in that much threat and I think these ninja are wasting your time. I also don't like spike."

"Look at that, another nickname." Jay said sitting on the couch with Nya. "What did she mean by Jaya…?"

"But mom…!"

"Call me mother."

"I like it here and you do not have control over me anymore…!"

"Yeah, I know, but I am disappointed."

And with that, Cece's mother and Isabella left leaving a gaping hole in Cece's heart.

"So that's what Cece's family is like?" Lloyd said.

"Yeah" Anne said.

Zane heard a loud ruckus outside, but did not do anything about it. Zane could only stare at the book in his hands.

Looking at the date at the corner, Zane recalled the day. That night…

Now Zane knew why Emma was so upset.

_It is late at night. Nya and Jay went on a date. Yet when I was meditating on the roof, Zane joined me. His presence was a great comfort yet I had another revelation._

_No future on this earth._

_No family._

_This revelation was so heavy I could not burden my presence with Zane any longer and I left._

'_Did she know I was a robot even before? Yet why did she look so surprised when she 'found out'? Did the Cosmic Master tell her she would have no future or show her…?' _Zane thought as he looked at the book.

His father looked up from his work and noticed his son. Stirring his old bones, he turned around in his swivel chair.

"Are you ok, Zane?"

Zane looked up and then back to the book. _'I must show this to everyone.' _

"Yes." Zane squeezed the book in his hands harder, as if it was the last thing he had left. "I have something to show everyone." Dr. Julien looked at Zane with a worried visage exaggerated by his many wrinkles.

Grabbing his phone, Zane dialed Nya's number. "Hello Zane, what do you need?"

"I need to show something to everyone."

"What is it?"

Zane sighed, "Something Emma left behind for us."

"We'll be right there."

Nya hung up the phone. She noticed Cece was still in a bit of shock with Anne trying to comfort her. Laura sat next to Lloyd on the couch. Jay looked at her and asked what Zane needed.

"Zane found something Emma left behind and wants to show us, now." Nya sat up on the couch. "Let's go."

Laura was sitting next to Lloyd. She was careful to sit at a respectable distance. She felt his eyes on her and she looked at his meadow green eyes. His green eyes were similar to his suit but definitely a different shade of green. Her suit was yellow. _'I guess that would make Lloyd and me a green-yellow crayon.'_

Looking away from Lloyd, she saw Nya get up and heard; "let's go." Laura sat up and saw Lloyd get up too. Everyone else followed Nya to Dr. Julien's room.

Feeling Lloyd brush against her arm, Laura felt uncomfortable in the crowded room. Laura pulled through the anxious thoughts and focused on Zane.

Watching everyone pile into the room, Zane gripped the book even more. Nya was the first in the room.

"What is it that Emma left behind?" She asked. Zane showed her the book. Nya held her hands out for Zane to hand her the book. Zane handed her the book but for a moment would not let go. Nya opened the book and read. Feeling a deep sense of dread, Nya slammed the book closed. Everyone was left hanging.

"What are we here for, sis?!" Kai asked.

"This journal is filled with prophesies from Emma. She still needs to tell us things. It is hard to read though, very depressing. She knew about that whole battle."

"She did? And she did nothing to stop it?!"

"…Yes." Zane said with sadness was in his eyes.

"Well what does it say…?" Laura asked, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second.

"There is a lot to read."

"Then could we move somewhere with a bit more room…?" Laura asked while her breathing was getting even heavier.

"I suppose the Cosmic Legion could read it first and then the ninja could read it after."

Everyone agreed and the Cosmic Legion left the room. Escaping the crowded room, Laura felt relieved. Yet she also thought about how much worse this was getting.

Anne climbed on top of her bunk bed lying down on the soft blankets. Nya sat on Emma's bed and Cece and Laura sat on theirs.

"I will read it out loud." Nya said opening the book.

Everyone listened closely.

"_During the time this shall be found, the Cosmic Legion shall be tested._

_The Assessments, as you read this… _

_Have begun…"_

* * *

**Here is chapter four. Thank you for everyone who has read this story. I have been having a bit of a block lately but everyone's support is helpful. Thank you **


	5. Chapter 5 Fall Forever in Melancholy

**Chapter 5;**_** Fall Forever in Melancholy**_

After the Cosmic Legion left, there was only the Ninja, Dr. Julien, and Sensei Wu. The room was dim leaving everyone to wonder how Dr. Julien could work in such light and how Zane was still sane.

"So Dr. Julien, how is Zane's power source going?" Jay asked

"It has been difficult. But I figured out a way to salvage it. I am however concerned about how it will effect Zane." Dr. Julien turned away from his work. "I have also been thinking about what happened to Emma. I remember fighting his hypnotism…" Dr. Julien turned back to his work station.

While he squeezed between random pointy objects of the room and instead of listening to Cole's suggestions to help get Emma back, Kai, even when she was nowhere near him, was thinking about how annoying his leach was. Kai was puzzled at the most, being aware of the fact they have kissed twice. What does that make them? They are not just friends but they are not really in a relationship either. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the phone in the bridge rang. Sensei Wu dashed out of the room.

* * *

Not because the writing was bad, too advanced or the handwriting was sloppy, Emma's journal was hard to read. It might have been the profound emotion on the pages or some mystic force in the mix that created the difficulty, but the Cosmic Legion was not sure. Every word was harder for Nya as she read.

_The Cosmic Legion shall be assessed cruelly_

_Guidance, wisdom, courage, hope, and faith_

Nya stopped reading.

"I think I am courage…" Laura said wrapping herself in a blanket.

"Should we let the ninja try reading it?" Anne asked.

Staring at the black leather and tightly gripping the book, Nya shook her head no. "Ignorance is bliss."

Knock, knock, knock came from the door. Nya sat up and opened it. Sensei Wu was behind it with Lloyd in the background. "Laura. I received a call from the counselor from your former school." Sensei Wu said staring into Laura's startled soul. "I would like for you and Lloyd to try some special training."

Without a word, Laura sat up from her bed and walked out the door. Closing the door behind her, she glanced at Lloyd and then to Sensei Wu. "What did you hear?"

"She explained… some of the things that happened." Laura stared at him unblinkingly. "It seems you and my nephew both are in need of help." Laura's peak in interest was etched on her face. Sensei Wu led the duo to the deck.

"What is this special training?" Laura asked.

The three were at the center of the deck. Lloyd's eyes tried adjusted to the light. Laura did not seem affected. "Sit." Sensei Wu said. He sat down cross-legged and the two whose names began with L did the same. "There are many problems that you both must face. Although Lloyd has already faced his father, he still has to learn about the responsibilities of being an adult. You Laura, have a large mountain that you must climb and need a guide to take you there." Sensei Wu sat up and walked away from the green-yellow crayon duo.

Closing her tired eyes, Laura released a long sigh. Lloyd asked; "You ok?"

Laura opened her eyes and replied; "I'm fine. I was just breathing." Looking up at the cloudless sky, Laura smiled. As she closed her eyes again, the light caressed her round face. Laura stroked through her straight brown hair with her fingers. "A guide, huh?" she thought out loud. Laura focused on Lloyd's grassy green irises, "Wasn't there some incident with tomorrow's tea with you or something?"

"Uh yeah… I'm like actually 14."

"That's kind of odd… but I wouldn't have minded skipping my childhood…"

"What do you mean? I had to _sacrifice _my innocence and childhood to save Ninjago. That isn't something someone would want."

"You wouldn't understand."

Lloyd was a little offended, "Really? Try me. I went to a boarding school too once. The kids there were evil! Seriously, the school even taught evil."

Laura sat up. "You left that school! Its not as if you spent your whole life ridiculed. My life was never perfect. Not even before I went there. They teased me because of my appearance, my body, my social status and just because they could! All those snobby rich kids ruled my life. Until you guys came along, I couldn't escape! I had nowhere to run! So if I could at least skip the last six years of my life, I would. I would because the pain haunts me _every single day_!"

Shocked, Lloyd had never heard her speak with such smooth passion. Instead of melancholy, rage was etched on her face.

Lloyd sat up too. "You are not the only person in the world who has had a horrible life."

Laura stormed away to the rails. Grasping the edge of the world and looking into the deep water on the Ninjago city coast, Laura quietly asked, "Why did no one help me…?" Laura turned around and looked at Lloyd. "I remember in elementary school… the teacher told us; if you want to make friends, ask someone to be your friend. If everyone wants friends, wouldn't that mean that everyone asks for friends? Out of all the people, why did no one ever ask me?"

Lloyd took a large step closer to Laura who stepped back closer to the rails. "Sensei Wu always told me everything happens for a reason. All the pain we deal with will one day, instead of being a burden, will become a blessing that will make us stronger."

"Have you been quoting Sensei Wu this whole time?"

"I admit I have a lot… he has helped me for a long time. He is very wise."

"I don't think all the stuff that has happened to me has happened for the greater good, Lloyd."

"Why would you think that?"

"Emma. Why do think she was upset all the time? The Cosmic Master isn't like your grandfather. She is very cruel but neutral. She doesn't plan things for the greater good. I don't know why she decides things, but they are not for the greater good. Emma told me once she was in a dream and she said she was angry at the first spinjitzu master. What if the Cosmic Legion is meant for evil? What if I turn into one of those villains with horrible pasts? What if something like what happened to Emma happens to me?"

Laura walked to the door of the bounty but Lloyd blocked the door with his right arm by pounding the slightly open door closed with the force of a punch. Laura was shocked with sound of a large slam. Lloyd knew that would _never _happen to her, but he never got the chance to respond to Laura's earlier statement.

Laura screamed. She ran away from Lloyd for her life. While she turned away from him, Lloyd slowly became perplexed. Laura ran up the stairs to the bridge and buzzed through with the speed of light. While their sensei regretted leaving the two alone together, the ninja were confused. Instead of running after the scared-to-death kunoichi, the three ninja stormed outside to Lloyd who was looking at his right hand.

Cole was the first one to come up to the kid's face. "**What** on _earth_ did _you_ do?!" While his mind scrambled for an answer, Lloyd's eyes widened in fear.

Lloyd managed to choke something out. "Laura was saying I did not understand her. She was afraid of—afraid of ending up like Emma—I was going to tell her she wouldn't, but she ran off."

Cole's glare jabbed Lloyd in the skull. "_Why_ did she run off?"

"I—I don't know. She was going to leave through this door but I slammed it shut in front of her."

* * *

Bursting inside the Cosmic Legion's room, Laura did not stop running. She ran straight to the closet and did not let anyone in. She grabbed a few spare blankets and wrapped herself in them.

Laura felt a phantom in the small closet, a phantom of the past. It caressed and corrupted as her horrible memories started to come back to her more and more vividly.

_It was at the beginning of the school year… She was walking to the rose garden on the roof. The hallways were empty… but he knew she would be there. Laura tried to push him away, but she banged her head on a locker as he pinned her against it…_

Laura felt her lips with her fingers. She remembered the revolting taste. She shivered.

_Laura kicked his ankle and slipped away from him. She ran upstairs and held the door behind her shut so no one could come in._

"LAURA!" She heard Nya yell.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Cece asked.

"LET US IN!" Anne asked.

From inside the closet, Laura heard others come into the room. Laura took deep breaths and stood up. She held the door knob trying to be turned in her hand. She felt her burning moist face once before she opened the door.

Laura's eyes were droopy and filled with pain. She looked as if her mind was somewhere else. She did not say a word. The mere words of everyone could not penetrate the fog in her eyes. Laura simply walked past everyone to her bed. Lifting up the blankets, she snuggled herself in and blocked everyone out.

Because so much was happening in the poor girl's mind, Laura had a hard time speaking to anyone for days… Laura could not look at Lloyd without being scared to death.

Laura felt horrible. She hardly ate and hardly went outside the Cosmic Legion's room. Once or twice she did not let them in at night so they had to sleep in the game room. Something had to be done about this. For someone who is supposed to control light, Laura was very emotional and depressed.

Laura wanted to give all this negativity up, but she could not. A strong and forceful voice in her mind always said no. She was ruled by the fear that filled her whole body and the anxiety that shook her bones.

While her mind told her no, her heart said yes. The pensive girl wanted to live by her heart and not by her large and overbearing mind. However, Laura feared her heart would not be bright enough.

Her heart craved the light. Its hunger grew inside the darkness. Yet the heart was weak, frail, and starved.

The heart called for help. Peering out the window to the soul every time she looked inside someone's eyes, the call for help was unsettling. The call for help was begging for something to ease the pain and bring forth happiness to the light in Laura's eyes.

Why, Laura asked. Why is she imprisoned? How do others go though life so freely? Why will nobody help me?

* * *

**When Lloyd slammed the door shut, it brought back some of Laura's most painful of memories. That is basically what happened. Thank you everyone who has reviewed my story. **

**Thank you mykindleisawesome, Toon Friend, Lya200, and guest for reviewing chapter 3  
**

******Thank you Mykindleisawesome, Toon Friend and Lya200 for reviewing chapter 4!**

******Btw, Lya200, the reason is, If you saw the future... the REAL future... then no matter what you do, it will happen. So she could not prevent it. She just could not.**

******SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!  
**


	6. Chapter 6 The Light of Day

**Chapter 6:**_** The Light of Day**_

While Laura was locking her self in her room, Dr. Julien got closer and closer to fixing Zane's power core.

Looking to Zane, Dr. Julien turned around in his spiny chair. Holding it in his hands, Dr. Julien looked at Zane worried.

"I do not know how this will affect you, Zane."

"What do you mean?"

"Since it was damaged, you may lose some endurance. It could also affect your fighting ability."

"So my power source will be weaker? Like having a weak heart" Zane asked.

"I'm afraid so. I have done all I could for the time being. We should try to search for a replacement still. At least with this you will be able to move about. I would recommend familiarizing your self with it being damaged before you start fighting. Be careful, Zane."

Zane nodded. Dr. Julien propelled himself to Zane in his chair. The doctor looked up at his son. "I'm afraid I will have to shut you down until it is replaced."

Zane was immediately filled with worry. If he had a heart, it would be beating faster. "Be… careful father."

Then Zane was shut off.

* * *

In the bridge, Lloyd was sitting in a chair and at a table with his head in his hands. Sensei Wu was standing near him thinking pensively. Bursting though the door, Cece slammed her hands on the table and Lloyd bolted up.

"This has gone far enough." Cece said, "Laura can't even look at you."

"What can we do about it?" Lloyd asked.

"We need to help her. We need to give her help if she wants it or not. All she needs is a kick in the butt. She is in our room too scared to get out of that bed. She is getting thinner and thinner every day she forgets to eat. And the days she does eat, she stuffs what ever she can down her throat. We need some sort of plan." Cece said.

"I think the best way for her to get over her fear is to face it. But she needs to be able to be comfortable with it when she does." Sensei Wu said.

"Where do we start?" Lloyd asked.

* * *

Cuddled in her bed, Laura saw Cece, Nya, and Anne slowly pile into the room. They all looked at Laura.

"Laura, we want to help you." Anne said in her calm and serious voice.

"Help… me…?" Laura said as if she did not know. Laura looked at them. Laura thought about it, _'Is it… finally… time…?' _

"Yes, we want to help you. We are your friends." Nya said.

"How will you help me?" Laura asked.

"We want to help you face your fears." Cece said sending a chill of anxiety inside Laura. "It is the only way."

"H-How w-will you do that?" Laura said tucking herself in more inside the blankets.

"We don't want to overwhelm you. We will start with baby steps." Nya said. They all stood up and stepped closer to Laura.

"One at a time…!" Laura said squirming away. Cece looked at Anne and Nya and they nodded their heads. Cece sat on Laura's bed and gently stroked her hair.

"Laura… what do you want right now?" Cece asked.

"What I want…?" Laura paused, "I want to be happy."

"Ok then, now, when we start, just keep that goal in mind. Think about it over and over again." Cece glanced at Anne and Nya and then back to Laura. She gently stroked the light brown hair, "What should we do first?"

"First…?" Laura said.

"How about we take you outside?" Cece suggested. Laura thought about 'outside.' She remembered the warm sun on her face. She remembered how it would always calm her soul. It was a cool drink of water on a hot day. However, Laura remembered what happened on the deck. She cringed.

"Is it sunny outside?"

Cece smiled, "very."

Cece helped Laura out of the warm blankets. Laura's hair was frizzy and her face was pale. While Laura stood up, she stumbled and grabbed Cece's hand. Her grip was so strong Cece felt like all the blood was getting squeezed out. Cece led Laura outside.

The hallway was deathly quiet, Laura noticed. She could almost picture the crowded hallways at the boarding school. While she walked though those, it was like traversing a minefield. Yet the confidence in Cece's green eyes gave Laura hope. Hope that there is a better place waiting for Laura outside the door Lloyd slammed shut.

* * *

Looking down at the deck, Kai watched in the bridge Cece lead Laura outside. Kai noticed how compassionate and motherly Cece was towards Laura. Looking away from the window, Kai looked at Lloyd.

"So we are going start with small things and work our way up slowly?" Lloyd asked.

Sensei Wu nodded, "Yes."

"So when do I play in…?" Lloyd asked.

"We need to make sure Laura is in a condition when she will not have a full on panic attack."

After Sensei Wu said that, a white figure slowly made his way to the door frame. Those in the room, Lloyd, Sensei Wu, Kai, and Cole were surprised.

Cole asked "Zane! Did your father fix your power source?"

Zane smiled. "Yes." Zane held on to the door frame and his smile ran away from his face, "But I need to get used to it being weaker." Zane was reminded of the events of the first. Shaking it off, he looked at Lloyd. "How is Laura doing?"

"Cece is taking her outside. She seems to be enjoying the sunlight."

"Is that so?" Zane said and slowly made his way to the window. His slow walk was painful to watch. "Cece is doing a good job."

Kai only watched in confusion. Perhaps he was considering he misinterpreted the Warrior of Life's personality. Zane's icy blue optics switched from the window to Kai.

"Kai?"

"What?"

"You seem to be surprised by Cece's actions."

"Surprised? Well why wouldn't I?"

Zane looked back out the window. He could not get Emma out of his mind. Emotions swirled inside the Nindroid. Zane sighed. He missed her soft snow-white skin, her sky-blue eyes, and her devotion to life. How he missed her fragile embrace and how he missed the way she cared and accepted him. She did not care about him being a robot… but that simply could have been because she blamed herself for such a tragedy that she knew would transpire on the eighteenth anniversary of her birth. Zane was worried now about his beloved's future.

Zane's eye's widened. Zane saw a purple figure appear out of nowhere. The purple figure behind Cece wacked the Cosmic Master with a staff. Everyone in the bridge immediately ran outside.

**Emma **grabbed Laura's arm before she could escape. She smiled at the blonde knocked out on the ground. After being the last out the door, Zane froze. He was haunted by the malicious smile etched on **Emma**'s face and the deep pit like a starless night in her eyes.

"Well hello there, Zane." **Emma** said. Her eyes flickered to his chest. "Doing well?"

Something about **Emma**'s voice… was different and the same simultaneously. Before anyone could say anything, **Emma **and Laura disappeared.

"LAURA!" Lloyd yelled. "Where did she and **Emma **go?"

"They could have gone anywhere…" Cole said.

Kai saw Cece on the ground. Dashing to her, he held her head in his lap.

Cole looked at Cece and Kai, "Take her to her room. She seems to be only unconscious, right Zane?"

Zane closely examined Cece, "Yes she is."

"We need to figure out where **Emma **took Laura. They couldn't have gone far." Cole said

Nya responded, "They could be at one of the tombs."

"We should search them then."

With that, Nya dashed to the bridge. Kai had also picked Cece up and took her inside.

When he picked her up, she was not too terribly heavy. Kai felt a lot of concern. He hoped this was not too serious.

'_It's impolite to stare~' _Kai could hear her say. Nevertheless, the calmness of Cece's face was like she had no care in the world. Kai could not help but admire her beauty. Her tan skin shimmered even in this light and her lips were red and kissable. Kai looked back up and took her to the Cosmic Legion's room. Luckily, Cece slept on the bottom bunk. After placing her on the bed, Kai darted out of the room and to the bridge.

In the bridge, Jay was planning the route and Nya was starting take off. Cole was with Jay and Zane seemed to be listening. However, when Kai walked in, Zane's eyes suddenly started to glow neon blue.

* * *

Though his falcon's eyes, Zane could only see white. Concerned at first, Zane later realized it was snow. While the snow cleared, Zane took a closer look at the surroundings. He could see no Birch trees so his falcon was not in the forest where he was created. Perhaps his falcon was near the Hypnobrai tombs?

Beyond the snow cascading from the sky, Zane saw **Emma**. As she smiled, she held her arm out for the falcon to land. Although he was a bit confused, the falcon perched on the seer's arm.

"In case you haven't noticed by the surroundings, we are near the Hypnobrai tombs." **Emma **said, "I hope you would care to visit the humble dwelling I have lately made my home. Laura is sure enjoying the snow." **Emma **then turned the falcon to a figure dressed head to toe in snow gear shivering her butt off. Zane couldn't quite make out her face, but her brown hair whipped around in the snowy breeze. Two serpentine were at her sides but she could not escape anyway. **Emma **went in front of the falcon again. "I hope I see you soon Zane." **Emma **winked, "Oh and if Laura wasn't enough…" Suddenly, Zane lost his connection with the falcon.

* * *

While he took off the goggles, Zane's eyes widened.

Nya said as she helped the startled Nindroid off the ground, "Not again…"

"It's a trap." Zane said.

"Well obviously." Kai said.

"What do we do then?" Lloyd asked.

"Well we were invited, weren't we?" Cece said leaning against the door frame. In her hands was a black book.

"Going in will be suicide!" Anne said.

Cece opened the book and read, "_I have discovered that on my birthday, an angel–like creature sent from the Cosmic Master will be sent to assess the Cosmic Masters._" Cece looked up. "I think this is why she invited us."

Jay brought up a picture of **Emma **wearing one of those malicious smiles on her face, "angel-like?"

"Well, we have to save Laura ASAP, right?" Cece said.

Everyone doubted Cece's theory but they set course to the Hypnobrai tombs anyway…

* * *

**Since Lloyd is still a kid, I think he will need some experienced help with Laura. Lots of advice... I think my favorite couple is Lloyd and Laura... Balance shipping... green-yellow crayon shipping... whatever you wish to call it. Balance shipping probably, da? I REALLY love writing them. **

**I may want a warn you all even if I have like nine other pre-written chapters that because of reasons... I am slowly losing my love for ninjago. Well I still like it but... I have been in a block. I will still end Caress and Corrupt as planned but this story will probably will not go on forever. But that will not be for a while. I'm also going to change the characters for this story so it is Lloyd and Oc as a pairing instead of Zane.  
**

**Thank you everyone who has been reading this story. It means a lot to me because I have this horrible habit of needing someone's approval to go on... If I have read and reviewed your story and you read mine I want to say you only can get better with writing. I may not be able to read all of my 100+ emails so that is why I want to say that. If I was not such a slow reader, I would read and review like I used to.**

**Thank you Toon Friend, Guest, and mykindleisawesome for your reviews!  
**

**SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!  
**


	7. Chapter 7 Darkness is a Cold Place

**Chapter 7;**_**Darkness is a Cold Place**_

Waking up, Laura could not feel the soft blankets she became used to over the past few days. Confused, Laura opened her hazel eyes. As she sat up, she felt the metal chains on her wrists and saw the bars of a cage. It wasn't cold. It was warm… When she saw green eyes through the bars, she thought of Cece. Yet these eyes glowed ominously. They weren't Cece's.

Feeling anxious, Laura backed against the wall. In the shadows, Laura saw a red and white samurai warrior. She could not quite make out what he was though.

"I am called General Kozu."

"Kozu…? Weren't you the one that broke out of jail?"

"Yes."

"Why are you here?"

"To guard you..."

Laura was a little anxious, but she did not see any keys on her 'guard' and felt safe behind the bars. Perhaps she just was in a good mood.

"How is Emma doing?" Laura asked. "She is still my friend and I am very concerned."

"Concerned for your kidnapper?"

"Concerned for a friend" Laura raised an eyebrow, "You know who I speak of."

"Oh, I see. I see where you are going at. It isn't your kidnapper you are worried about."

"No, da"

"**Emma **does not tell me those things. But she does mumble a lot."

"So what does **Emma **want?"

"You want me to reveal her big plan?"

"Well you are not being controlled by her directly therefore you have your own free will.

You could reveal anything.

However I assume you feel as if you owe something to her or you have something you want from her. If you did not feel either of those, you wouldn't be here. Yet I wonder what is it you owe or want so much you would be her ally.

Let me guess… After being controlled for so long, now that you have your free will you don't know what to do with it?"

General Kozu narrowed his eyes at Laura. "Are you interrogating me?"

Laura sighed. Leaning back against the wall, Laura did not know why she was so calm. Last thing she remembered was going outside with Cece and then… **Emma**. All the negative feelings she had seemed ridiculous at the moment, yet Laura knew they would come back. Randomly thinking, Laura stared off into space.

Laura pictured Lloyd's grassy green eyes in perfect detail… they so pure and youthful.

Suddenly, Laura remembered what happened. Although it was quite warm in the cage, she shivered. Memories started pouring in and Laura tried to push it all out. Curling up, Laura couldn't fend all this… Yet what bothered her the most was how much she missed her guide…

* * *

As the bitter cold smacked him in the face over and over, Lloyd followed the rest of the ninja and Cosmic Legion. Determined to save Laura, Lloyd felt a deep passionate anger swell inside him. Lloyd was willing to save her a million times to prove that she can trust him. Just thinking about the kunoichi of light warmed Lloyd up. Although she was not as tan as Cece, her skin shined in the sun. (Cece and Laura are tan and Emma and Anne are vampires in the sun… makes sense, no?) Laura's round face made the most beautiful smiles with a laugh to match. Even if she was more of a quiet person, Lloyd was fascinated by all the interesting ideas she came up with.

Realizing Lloyd had slowed down, Cole turned around. "Don't worry, Lloyd. Another Cosmic Master is not going to get hurt under my watch."

"Darn it Cole, you just jinxed us." Cece said. Her scarf was showing the direction of the wind as she put her hand on her hip.

"Cece, I don't see how such a simple statement could affect our chances." Zane said.

"Just you wait, Zane."

Anne was starting to get tired, "Come on. Let's go. We are almost at the spot." Cole smiled and everyone started walking again.

After walking for fifteen or so grueling minutes, Nya stopped. "Is this it, Sensei?" Nya asked in the communicator in her suit. (She couldn't bring the samurai suit but she developed a stealthier version that was more compact but less destructive and strong).

"Yes, right below should be a secret entrance to the tombs. It was an old fault in the ice we disguised as a back up. It is a one way door. You can only get in unless Zane… Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. How is Dr. Julien doing?"

"He is still trying to remember what happened. He thinks he forgot something really important and it's on the tip of his tongue."

Jay interrupted the flow of the conversation, "Man, I hate when that happens, so frustrating!"

Nya smiled and rolled her eyes, "We are moving in." Nya ended the call. "Zane…?"

"Yes."

"Do your thing."

Zane nodded his head. Placing his gloved hands on a particular spot on the ice, he felt the fault and the entrance. It would be difficult to open again.

"Are you sure you should have came, Zane? I could have melted the ice." Kai asked.

Zane continued his concentration. "I have done enough resting. I need to get her back or die trying." With that, the staircase appeared in the ground.

"Well done, Zane!" Jay said climbing down the stairs first. Zane sighed in relief and exhaustion.

Anne patted the nindroid's back, "Come on, Zane. You can do it. You know snow."

Zane smiled ruefully, "I do."

Everyone headed down the stairs silent as feathers floating in the air. Zane sensed the presence of many serpentine, but the team seemed to be out of sight. As they continued walking, they had to start crawling to fit in though a small cavern. Then the cavern split. Cole was in the front of the group and he looked back at everyone.

"We'll stay together. Which direction should we go?" Cole thought about it. "Can you sense anything, Zane?"

"I could probably figure out where the tunnels lead. Where do you think they could be hiding Laura? Either way, we need to get out of this tunnel to search."

"Perhaps find an entrance that is clear enough we can go through it." Anne suggested.

"But isn't this a trap? What if they purposely leave an area unguarded to ambush us?" Nya asked.

"Would they know about the secret entrance?" Cole asked.

"It is possible. They did remodel so they could have bumped into it. However I doubt it because this tunnel does not seem to be messed with." Zane said.

"Then look for the entrance with the least serpentine." Cole said.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Cole? I feel like we are walking into a trap." Cece said.

Cole sighed, "Cannot do much about it. Our first priority is to get Laura back. Then we need to do something about** Emma **and the snakes." Cole looked to Zane. "Have you searched the tunnels yet?"

"Working on it" Zane said pressing his hands onto the ground and focusing his energy on the ice.

They decided to go right. In the small tunnel, it started to get lighter and lighter until they finally reached an opening. Hiding in the shadows with his black suit, Cole looked for anyone. Finding no snake, he crawled out and the others followed. The light in the room glimmered off the icy walls causing them to shine like crystal. The ice was a foggy blue that could not be seen though. The team had ended up in a large and spacious room but it was no ballroom. However it was quite the relief from crawling inside an icy tunnel. The cave was as cold as most villains' in good television shows hearts. Seeing no snakes, they decided to rest a bit having taken a large trudge through ice and snow.

Zane felt like he was low on energy. Fatigue shined off his pale skin. He felt heavier. Trying his hardest, he kept his eyes opened but was relieved to be able to take a break. Looking around the room, he noticed stalagmites and stalactites on the floor and on the ceiling. He had to admire all the ice shimmering like foggy diamonds. Sitting down, he was leaning against a stalagmite. However as he leaned back, he felt a movement in the ice behind him.

Whipping his head back to the others, Zane saw he was alone. Everyone else that was there was gone. Pouncing, Zane stood up with an eagle-like stare. He looked around his surroundings but his eyes kept going towards the black tunnel.

Click, Click, Click, he heard. Coming closer and closer until it was right in front of him. Suddenly, it stopped. Zane backed away. While backing away, the clicks returned. Out of the blue, he felt a clawed hand grab his ninja suit. Like the Cheshire cat, **Emma** appeared with a devious and madman-like smile.

"Hello, Zane." **Emma **said. Out of his shock, Zane narrowed his eyes at the snake.

"What did you do with everyone?"

**Emma **turned her heard left and right. Looking into Zane's icy blue eyes, **Emma** said, "I merely wanted some time alone with you…"

"Why would you want that?"

"Snakes can be so… idiotic. Sometimes I don't believe I may be going to practically save their species… Yet you… you interest me. When I entered this… body… I got your little Emma's memories… I want to know why… she wanted you so much as to—" **Emma **stopped herself. She was centimeters from the Nindroid's face.

Her dark pits narrowed. She stepped back. "Ha-ha! Why am I telling you this?" Suddenly, **Emma **grabbed the Nindroid's neck. "I was ordered to kill you, you know?"

For a few seconds, they stayed like that. Zane's icy blue eyes stared at **Emma **in terror. Her claws poked his pale skin. Zane could hold his breathe for a long time, but he was scared of those claws snapping his neck. Suddenly, Zane felt her grip loosen. **Emma **let go of the Nindroid. "But I won't kill you yet…" **Emma **smiled. Zane felt her claw on his cheek and then she disappeared.

* * *

As the cold floor pinched her cheek, Cece woke up. While she lay on the ground, she found that she was in a new place. It was still cold as a snow-cone in a blizzard but the room was smaller. In the center of the wall, there was a throne. She realized she and Kai were the only two in the room…

Well that was until suddenly, looking around her, she heard a laugh. She turned her head and saw… the kidnapper they were trying to save.

Trying to find the source of the laughter, Kai's narrowed eyes zoomed around the room. Suddenly, as his eyes rested on the throne, the evil-turned Seer of Stars appeared out of nowhere with a smirk. Draped around her body was a grayish white dress highlighted with black and royal purple and had a very _low _neck-line. Nonetheless, her body was also covered in scales.

"Wow **Emma**, you look pretty B-A." Cece commented.

Stepping off the throne with her exposed legs wearing boots below the knee, her smile grew larger, "Why thank you, I knew you would appreciate it." **Emma **put her weight on one of her legs as she put her hand on her hip. "Sadly, you probably will not be complementing me anytime soon."

After she took them out for the world to see, **Emma**'s daggers glinted in the pale light reflected off the icy walls.

She dashed towards both Kai and Cece. Before she could get near either of them, Kai had his elemental sword out and blocked the daggers. This gave Cece enough time to take out her machete but not enough to attack **Emma**.

Recovering from the block, **Emma **twisted to trip Cece on the ground.

Cece stumbled backwards but caught her self in time to block a dagger. While she was busy with the dagger, Emma tried to jab her with another one but was blocked by Kai.

**Emma **quickly turned invisible and successfully tripped Cece and Kai. With strength Cece and Kai had not been expecting, **Emma **kicked Cece across the room and put that same foot on Kai's back.

**Emma **turned visible again so Kai could see her smirk before… before…

Cece could not believe her eyes. It happened so fast… she could not do anything across the room with her breathe taken out of her…

She could only watch as a dagger literally stabbed Kai in the back.

* * *

**Hopefully this wont stump me... but yeah... it was totally a trap... Cole thought they could handle it... Thank you for reading this story and the author's note! Everyone! Thanks to those who reviewed as well! Toon Friend, mykindleisawesome, and Lya200! You all diserve tea and Zane cookies! (Cannon shoots cookies to everyone)**

**SergeantSarcasm7 at you service!**


	8. Chapter 8 Darkness is Strong

**Chapter 8;**_**Darkness is Strong**_

**Emma **dropped the dagger lazily on the ground. Smiling at the blood on her hands, shewiped her hands in job-well-done manner. As he looked into Cece's eyes, Kai went into shock.

Horrified, Cece could not move from the spot. Her heart began to race as she looked into Kai's brownish red eyes. Feeling a dull pounding pain, Kai lay on the ground only holding his hand out to Cece. Sprinting towards him and collapsing onto the ground, Cece laid Kai on her lap. Cece saw the blood darkening his already red uniform. Placing her hands on the wound, Cece applied pressure. "D-d-don't worry K-Kai…" she muttered, "I can heal you like I did Laura!" While Kai turned his head to glance at the worried Cece, the pain began to overwhelm his senses and envelop him in panic. As a ninja, he was trained to be numb to pain but this was overwhelming. Kai struggled to pick up the conversation.

"Tsk, tsk, Cece." Cece looked up at **Emma** in shock, "That isn't how this plays out."

"What…!? W-why did you stab him?"

"This is your assessment. You have to learn about when its time for life or time for death."

"What?" Cece stared into her starless-night eyes perplexed.

"With life, there is death. You can't heal everyone on a whim. You have to let some people die when it is their time. It is Kai's time."

Cece felt tears trickle down her cheeks, "WHAT!?" Cece looked into Kai's eyes. "Is there no way I can save him?"

"You can save him but there will be a consequence for failing your assessment."

"I don't care what the consequence is as long as Kai doesn't die!" Cece said

That was the last thing Kai heard before everything went black.

Feeling an ache in his back the moment he woke up, Kai cringed in pain. Suddenly, he remembered **Emma **stabbing him. When his hand settled on the spot, he felt no blood or wound. Perplexed, Kai looked around the room that seemed darker than before. Scared, Kai franticly searched for Cece. He found her. In the corner, Cece looked at him with droopy eyes and the most stoic expression he ever saw on her face.

Standing up on the slippery ice, Kai ran and slid to Cece. Cece felt a hand cuff her cheek and she lazily looked at Kai. "Are you alright?" Cece asked.

"Yes, but are you okay?"

"Well I am neither good nor bad therefore okay would be the most appropriate adjective." Kai was shocked at how emotionless her tone was. Looking into her eyes, Kai saw a deep jungle fog inside her green eyes. Cece stood up. Kai stepped back. "Is there an exit?" Kai felt something was off.

Kai grabbed Cece's shoulders and looked into her eyes that were like a fogged up mirror in a bathroom after taking a hot shower, "What happened?"

Cece replied stoically, "I healed your wound. I do not remember the consequence." Cece felt a warm hand on her cold cheek. Cece thought there was something off too. She remembered something… more, something more than this. As she looked into Kai's eyes, she tried to remember why it was so… different. Not sensing the mood, Cece turned around and looked around the room. "How do we get out of here?"

Kai was shocked while Cece walked away from him. She walked around the room and noticed a door behind the throne. _'What was the consequence?'_

* * *

**Emma **watched them wake. She sat on a couch besides Skales invisible but he knew she was there. Skales felt awkward and uncomfortable. While Lloyd, Anne, Cole, Jay, and Nya woke up, **Emma **remained invisible. The three looked around confused until they saw Skales. **Emma **smiled at their dumfounded faces as she reappeared.

"Where is everyone else?" Nya demanded. **Emma **looked around the room and held her hand in the air. Sticking out three fingers, she slowly put one away and then the other.

Right after she did this, out of two separate doors Zane and Cece and Kai entered the room. The doors slammed shut behind them.

"I bet you're all wondering why I have gathered you here today…" **Emma **said with a laugh. "You may only ask four questions"

The group gathered into a pile of people as they whispered among themselves. Kai immediately thought of a question.

"What was the consequence?" Kai asked as everyone stared at him confounded.

**Emma **smiled, "That is simple. In exchange to heal you, Cece sacrificed her emotions and feelings." Full of sorrow, Kai was shocked and looked at the Warrior.

"One" **Emma **said.

"What happened, Kai?" Jay asked.

"I stabbed Kai and Cece failed her assessment by choosing to pay the consequence to heal him, two." **Emma **said.

"I didn't ask you!" Jay said.

"A question's a question."

"I have a question." Zane said. "Where is the _real _Emma?"

"Three." **Emma **shaped her hand into a gun and 'shot' herself in the head, "In here. Do you want to know what she is doing or who _**I **_am?"

"No," Lloyd said, "Where is Laura?" **Emma **smiled at Lloyd however as he looked into her dark eyes, she felt in her smile the want to kill him.

"Oooh, that's a good final question. I had forgotten about her myself… She isn't here."

"What do you mean she isn't here?" Furious, Lloyd asked

**Emma **smiled, "four."

The evil-turned-Seer-of-Stars jumped off the couch and dragged the hypnotic snake with her. She pulled some concealed daggers out of her dress aiming one right between two icy blue eyes. As the doors opened, the Spinjitzu and Cosmic Masters immediately sprung alert. **Emma **smiled, "get out of here before it's too late." Those who were being threatened by the seer stood confused. Do they fight or do they flee?

**Emma **narrowed her eyes at their hesitation.

Cole felt eyes on him. He thought fast, "If Laura is not here, we need to go." Everyone immediately followed his lead out the door. Zane did not flinch when a dagger flew right by his head. Instead, he simply turned around to glare daggers right back at **Emma**.

"Why did you let them get away?" Skales screeched.

"I did what all I wanted to do with them… for now."

* * *

Stepping inside the warm ship, everyone felt relief from the cold… However their thawing skins were not their biggest concern at the moment. In place of **Emma **and Laura, Anne was mostly concerned for her best friend. A friend who was like a sister to her a long time before all this 'mess' began and before the orchestra festival for adjudication. Anne could not imagine her without her vivacious persona. Cece was always full of life and that was because of her emotions. The cruelty of that being taken away is outrageous. The whole scenario is unfair because if **Emma **stabbed Kai, should not she have paid the price? How did **Emma **take such a thing away anyway? All that for a stupid assessment! **A stupid assessment! **

As she thought through her worries, Anne was biting her bottom lip. Cole could not resist looking at the cute, pensive look on her face. Anne realized someone was looking at her. Her stunning grey eyes that seemed to pierce into his soul staggered the mountain-like ninja.

"Is there something on my face or somethin'?" Anne asked bluntly.

"Oh-um no…" Cole said and looked the other direction.

Inside the bridge, Anne walked up to Cece. Looking into her jungle-fog eyes, Anne wore a worried visage. "Are you ok, Cece?"

"I am fine. Why is everyone so concerned?"

"It's just… you're so out of character…. And what **she**did to you…"

"I'm fine, seriously. I do not feel anything… except for a desire to rid my self of apathy."

Unable to comprehend her seriousness, Anne was taken aback. "She's a whole new person…" she mumbled. Even Cece noticed the sorrow in her eyes. Remembering who did this, Anne, with a determined look in her grey eyes, turned around and looked at the doctor in the bridge. "Do you remember anything that could help us, Dr. Julien?"

He sighed, "I only remember putting… Fangpyre venom in the elixir… but there were a lot more ingredients…"

"We have to do something!" Anne said impatiently. Nya looked at the black-bounded book near the computer.

"Perhaps… we should give the book ago?" Nya suggested.

Anne looked at it. She felt as if something was stabbing her in the heart. She tensed. Her grey eyes wavered. "No." she said sternly as her heart began to race. Anne sensed… something wrong.

Lloyd asked "Why not?" picking up the book. Lloyd opened the book.

_It is coming like a storm..._

_clouds are on the horizon..._

_Who shall be spared?_

Anne aimed for the door, "I need to be alone."

Distressed, Kai looked at the Warrior of Life. At least she is not… you know… annoying him. That was the only upside. Kai could not get her out of his head. The softness of her lips… the way her hair landed on her shoulders… and how she could just make him feel more alive than ever with a furious passion drove him hysterical. _'You don't know what you have until it is gone…' _

Never in a million years could Kai have imagined something like this happening… how worried he could be for her… and how she would sacrifice something that made her who she was like the colors of the world to save his life. _'This can't be real… it just can't happen. How could this all be true…?' _Suddenly, something that Zane said infested his thoughts… 'Is there something wrong with my memories, father?' Kai's red-brown eyes widened in shock, _'What if…?'_

"What if something like this happens to the rest of the Cosmic Legion?" Kai asked.

"What do you mean?" Jay said.

"Something so unbelievable, it could not be true. Something terrible… Like turning into a snake or having no feelings anymore. What will happen to Nya, Anne, and Laura when they take this _'assessment'_?"

Everyone in the room, Jay, Lloyd and Cole in particular, stared at Kai caught unaware.

Frightened, Nya wondered what will happen during this… assessment. However, she was not whelmed when her brother and her boyfriend started to share their concern.

"What should we do?" Lloyd asked.

"We need to get Laura out of her hands… and we need to protect the Cosmic Legion." Cole said. "Where do they have her?"

Before anyone could answer his question, a knock was heard. Since they were in Ninjago City for supplies, it could be anyone. Out of all the people in the bridge, Zane walked to the door and answered it. Petrified, Zane looked at the dark-haired man with the familiar blue eyes. They told him a few days ago when they quickly took Camille home but they have not made contact since.

"May I come in?"

"O-of course…" Zane opened the door wider as the man walked inside.

"How is it… going?" Andrew asked. Emma's uncle did not like the sad look on the Spinjitzu and Cosmic Master's faces.

"Not… very good I'm afraid." Sensei Wu said, "She has a member of ours and she… hurt another."

"How are you going to… de-snake her?" Andrew asked.

Dr. Julien sighed, "We don't know yet…"

"You don't know yet?! What have you all been doing these past days! Ugh… I knew this was a bad idea at the start… I should have never let her do this…"

Regret and guilt filled the room. Zane cautiously stepped to Emma's uncle. "We are trying everything we can to save her."

"Well what have you been doing?"

"Currently we are trying to figure out where she is." Zane said as he heard someone else at the door. At the open door was Camille.

"Daddy, is Emma back yet?" She asked.

"Not yet, sweetie… they can't find her…" The disappointed look in her eyes was heartbreaking.

"Don't worry… we will get Emma back." Zane said to the girl.

* * *

**Thank you Toon Friend and mykindleisawesome for being such loyal reviewers! Here is chapter 8... These assessments are messing up my head... but whatever... poor Cece... and Kai... **

**SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!**


	9. Chapter 9 Unwavering Full Depth

**Chapter 9; **_**Unwavering Full Depth**_

It was a while before dinnertime. Zane had his ingredients gathered together. As he made the tomato sauce with smashed Italian sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic, he smelt the scrumptious spices fill the kitchen. Although he felt a familiar comfort in the hot room, Zane sighed. He looked inside the Dutch oven as his thoughts drifted from cooking, _'That is not Emma in control definitely. Although I have seen a side like that when she was teasing one of her victims, this __**Emma **__is cruel beyond anything I could have imagined. And then there was Skales.' _Zane narrowed his eyes at the sauce simmering in the Dutch oven. _'What is happening between those two?' _Zane closed his eyes and caressed the stitches on his chest. He only felt his ninja-suit but he knew those would live with him for the rest of his life. _'That is not Emma… she could never do something like this.' _

He felt his hand shake and his body began to tremble. He moved away from the Dutch oven. He crumbled in front of the fridge. His 'figurative' heart began to fill with loneliness like someone drowning in a tank filling up with water. He recalled the fact it would never have worked out no matter what. Emma would have aged while he remained the same. Nonetheless, after he thought about it for a long time and getting advice from others like his father, he calculated if he simply ended it because of that fact neither of them would be happy. It was not as if they would feel that much better or the situation would be fixed if they had never pursued a relationship.

Yet Zane missed her so much to the point it was unbearable inside his robotic body. Zane also worried for her to the point of tremendous anxiety. The pain of fate destroyed him inside and out.

Cole entered the kitchen. Seeing the white ninja on the floor curled up, he immediately came up to him, "What happened, Zane?" It reminded Cole of when Zane found out he was a robot. Zane's icy blue eyes looked up at the black ninja.

"Nothing" Zane said in a velvet mumble. Cole reached out his hand to help the Nindroid up but Zane did not take it. Zane returned to his stoic countenance and stared blankly at the black ninja. "I finished the sauce for the lasagna. It just needs to simmer for a while." Walking out the door, Zane left Cole in the kitchen.

* * *

On her tippy-toes, Laura peered out the window. She counted three bars she could reach her arms out between and probably get sunburned after a while. As she looked past the bars and the sand mountains and serpentine, she imagined a beach with endless salt water, salt water curving the horizon ever so slightly, and the watery horizon slowly reaching out for the sands of the beach. The only thing she could imagine to give life to the hot and sandy desert that isolates The Lost City of Ouroboros was a beach. Laura remembered one when she was little. Everything was peaceful and everyone was happy. Oh how Laura craved and longed for such happiness… but she has experienced too much to have such dainty hopes.

"Food" Kozu said passing a tray under the bars. Laura's stomach grumbled. She rested her aching feet and sat down grabbing the tray. The food was not bad but not good either. Laura looked up at the Stone Warrior whose heart was not as cold as stone.

"Does Emma ever… fight it?" Laura asked.

"Fight it? No." he said in a cold grumbled voice. Laura sighed. Hearing the door to the vestibule open, Laura saw **Emma **at the door. Her dress swayed with the smooth steps she took. She had a glass of iced tea in her hand.

"Hello Laura." She said. "I don't really need to do anything to you, do I?"

Laura was confused, "What?"

"You're already pretty messed up because of your past… and you're already focusing on your assessment."

"Oh yeah… courage…" A thought came to Laura's mind. "How is it that I am encouraged to overcome my fears when Emma, who loves Zane, is… forbidden to love?"

It looked like **Emma **thought about it. "Everyone has a different destiny. You should know by now life is not far."

"Well I'm not getting closer to finishing my assessment here. Why kidnap me?"

"Eh, I need a hostage." **Emma **sipped her iced tea.

What was she? A princess locked in a tower? A kunoichi locked in a cell? Laura sighed.

**Emma **saw the girl's hazel eyes. Eyes like an ancient book with water stains tinting the paper. The ancient book was still being finished. Taking another sip of the iced tea, **Emma **felt some relief from this pounding in her skull. Besides that, **Emma **was having the time of her life. The look on Skales' face when she controls him is priceless. This power she has… is delicious. Oh how long she has waited for this to come. She has waited so long to know what its like to sweat under a desert sun or freeze in wasteland of snow. Leaving the vestibule, **Emma** smiled.

Watching her leave, Laura's head throbbed with puzzlement and anger. **Emma **is getting a kick out of this! Scrutinizing our worry for Emma, **Emma **just smiles wide and manifestly. What is she doing or planning to do to everyone that she has not already? Laura looked at the bars of the cell. Feeling clueless, Laura was frustrated in the confined space. Laura stood up and turned away from the bars. She saw the tiny window barely above her head. Standing on her tippy toes, she saw the sun beginning to set.

* * *

While the tempests stirred the air, the sun beamed across the waters as it cascaded to the horizon in orange. Lloyd only took a glance at the exquisite firmament.

Inside the bridge with Nya, Lloyd tried to help find Laura. Currently, they were checking out the serpentine tombs and scanning for snakes. Suddenly, an idea occurred to Lloyd.

"Have we checked Ouroboros?" He asked.

"No we haven't." Nya said and turned to the computer. "Hmmm… there seems to be an increased amount of snakes there. I don't believe I forgot about the city… Since we have searched the Hypnobrai tombs the former lost city would probably be our best bet." The smell of lasagna filled the bridge. "We should check the city out."

Inside the door frame, Zane looked inside the room. "Dinner is ready."

Jumping with glee, Lloyd said childishly, "food!" and he raced out of the room.

While everyone practically drooled, Zane placed the lasagna on the table. Everyone had a good chunk.

Eating his food, Lloyd glanced at the empty chair beside him. How was Laura? "What could **Emma **be doing to Laura right now…" he talked to himself. Zane looked at Lloyd with sympathy. After a sigh, Lloyd looked away from the chair and started to eat.

Taking a bite out of the Italian dish, Cece still tasted the beautiful craftsmanship of Zane but felt no joy in it. She simply ate it because it was food. Kai felt guilty. He should have been able to fight off **Emma**! Now Cece can no longer enjoy life. Oh how Kai hoped she was not suffering. He needed to fix this. He needed to get Cece back. But how could he do that? How could he make her feel? As if she was reading his thoughts, Cece looked across the table at Kai. Their eyes met. The look in Cece's eyes was indifferent and heart-breaking.

'_Why does Kai look so upset?' _Cece asked herself. _'The better question would be why he is upset over her decision. Is it guilt or pity? Could he be worried…?' _Cece tried to piece together what she remembered of her emotions before. The more she remembers them, the stranger and stronger this hollow feeling she was left with grew. Everything is so fuzzy when she thinks about it. However, at the present, looking into Kai's eyes, she could not feel anything.

Kai looked down at his untouched-plate. The Italian spices filled his senses but did not attract him. Anger inflamed the red ninja. He started to feel his uncontrolled anger force his body to tremble and tick like a time bomb. "How did this happen…!" Dishes rattled as Kai gripped the edge of the table. "How could Emma do this? Couldn't she fight it?" Everyone stared at Kai in shock. "How can Emma even live with herself after something like this?" Kai could not help but stare into the foggy green eyes across from him.

Cece reached across the table and touched Kai's hand. Her apathetic eyes stared into his, "Calm down… we are both alive… that is all that matters." Cece saw instant hurt and guilt on his face. Kai took hold of Cece's lukewarm hand. The velvet felt cool in his torrid, calloused hand.

"We will find a way get Cece's emotions back. We will get Laura and Emma back too." Cole said and Kai sat down but still held Cece's hand.

"When we get Emma back, how could she live with herself after doing all this?" Kai asked still.

Zane stood up from his chair. "It wasn't her!" Picking up his nearly finished plate, Zane hastened to the kitchen and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Suddenly, all the pain _Emma _felt stopped. As she listened to Emilia's instructions, _Emma_ looked at her feet. Although she was stepping on shards of glass, _Emma _did not think they were bleeding. Her skin was pale like the moon but was stained with red. _Emma _felt hands on her shoulders and she looked at the ghostly figure with downcast eyes. "You have to do this…" Emilia said. Their nearly identical blue eyes did not waver from each other. "If you don't… everything… will never have existed." _Emma _felt all hope drain out of her face.

"I have done it then. If we exist, then I must have done it." _Emma _said. "So I am stuck with this burden, then?" Emilia nodded. "What does this have to with Zane?"

"I, myself am not sure what the Cosmic Master's deal is. She is kind of caught in the middle of the Overlord and Original Spinjitzu Master."

"That is true."

* * *

It was too late. Zane realized it was too late. The sun had already set. All that remained were the tiny crescent in the dark navy blue sky. Fall leaves blew onto the deck. Salt water pinched the nindroid's nose. It was cold.

Zane welcomed the cold. The way it pricked his artificial skin made him feel more alive and powerful. His mind could race and his thoughts could drift freely. However, those thoughts were filled with dread today.

The rails were freezing. Feeling confident, Zane did not worry about splinters on the smooth wood at his fingertips. Although he was heavy being made of metal, Zane easily jumped off the bounty and into the frigid ocean water.

Feeling the shock of entering the invigorating water, Zane dived deep inside the water. Only until he reached the bottom, did he remember his power-core.

* * *

**I am sorry about not posting last week. I was busy and forgot. When I remembered, it was too late in the week to post a chapter. Thanks to everyone who has read and is reading my story! I hope you all get so connected to it you will all hate me! mwhahahahahaha! I wish I was better at plot though. Thank you Lya200 and Mykindleisawesome for your reviews!**

**SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!**


	10. Chapter 10 The Black of Night

**Chapter 10; **_**the Black of Night**_

Following Zane, the ninja looked down into the cold waters beside the bounty. Cole glared at the red ninja.

"I get how worried you are for Cece, but Kai, you did not have to blame it on Emma." Cole said.

Kai looked at Cole with a fire in his eyes, "Why can't I blame her? She saw all of this coming and did nothing to stop it!"

"Think about it Kai," Jay put his hand on his shoulder, "She couldn't do anything. If she did stop it, she would not have seen the real future in the first place."

"If I was in her place, I would have done everything I could. She did not even try or even warn us." Kai said, "What if she did nothing because she was secretly against us the whole time?"

"She would have been quite the actor." Lloyd said.

"Kai, why do you doubt her?" The ninja turned to see the Nya followed by Cece and Anne, "why do not have faith in Emma? Do you even know what is going into her head? How could she just fake all that pain?" Nya continued, "Would that be really necessary?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but where is Zane?" Anne asked.

"He's meditating underwater. He can hold his breath underwater for like ten minutes." Lloyd said.

"What about his power-core?" Cece asked. Jay's eyes widened.

"I totally forgot about that! He should be up by now!" Jay said. At that very moment to everyone's relief, Zane's head popped out of the water. Jay turned around as the ninja looked up at everyone. "Are you okay, Zane?"

Zane sounded out of breath, "Yeah, I am. I might need some help to get back on deck." They used Anne's rope to help him up. Exhausted, he leaned against the rail.

Walking up behind him, Kai put a hand on the nindroid's shoulder, "I'm sorry Zane… about what I said." Zane turned around to look at Kai.

"Its fine." He said, "We need to stop her as soon as possible."

* * *

"We should attack now, Nya." Cole said, "They would not expect it. We will also have the advantage of the night. **Emma **does not know when we will figure out her hiding place… I hope so at least."

Everyone was gathered in the bridge. Heating was cranked up. Out the window, was the desert and The City of Ouroboros was near the horizon. Everyone agreed with Cole.

"Jay, Kai, Lloyd and I will get a head start on the bounty and search for Laura. Zane, Nya, Cece, and Anne will stay at the bounty for back up. If we are caught, we will need a way out of the dragon's den."

"How will we deal with Emma?" Anne asked.

"We are going to try to take her here." Jay said, "We were going to keep her prisoner until we find a cure."

Cole asked "Any more questions?" The room was silent.

* * *

Collapsing on the bed, Skales felt exhaustion overwhelm him. Yet he could not fall asleep. His mind was so busy; he began to talk to himself after reciting the thoughts over and over again in his mind.

"That weapon was a big mistake. It backfired. I cannot control **Emma **like I can everyone else. What was I thinking when I chose her to fire at first?"

A dark shape appeared out of nowhere. When two black pits were right in front of his face, Skales' red eyes widened. Sharp teeth grinned. "You were supposed to despise Emma. Because you despised her, you chose her to transform into a serpentine." **Emma **stood back up straight. Skales glared at her in anger.

"Can't I have my privacy!?" Skales asked.

**Emma **gave him a fake pout. "Fine, be that way…" Skales was surprised when she actually left. However thinking about how she could just pop out of nowhere at any time, Skales could not sleep.

* * *

The sky was black. There were only a couple faint stars in the sky and it was a new moon. Because they were not very close to the city, Zane thought it was strange. On the deck, the four ninja were preparing to leave. However as they were looking out at the dark desert, they saw a figure walking towards them. They could not see her until she was on the deck. Another figure appeared behind her.

Since Nya was on the upper level of the ship, she turned on the spot lights. **Emma **put her hands over her eyes. "The light, it burns! It burns!" The ninja were shocked. **Emma **tugged on the rope that tied Laura's hands together. Blindfolded, she stumbled forward.

"Laura!" Lloyd said.

"Well no da, it is her." **Emma** said, "I wanted to see how you all were doing since I have seen you last." **Emma **began to untie Laura's ropes, "and to give someone back." **Emma **pushed her forward again and she tripped.

After Lloyd rushed to help Laura up, he looked up at **Emma**, "What did you do to her?!"

**Emma **looked at him innocently, "Nothing! What did I need to do?" **Emma **gestured at the shaking kunoichi.

Lloyd untied Laura's blindfold. Her hazel eyes looked into his grassy green eyes. Suddenly, Laura hugged him. Lloyd for a few moments was too shocked to do anything. Slowly, he returned the affection. Being this close to her, Lloyd noticed she smelt slightly of cocoa. Finally having her back, he smiled in relief. Despite the cold night, Laura was very warm. Slowly and awkwardly, Laura detached herself from Lloyd.

Laura looked at Lloyd. "Did she do anything to you?" he asked.

Laura shook her head no. "Were you worried… about me?" Laura asked.

"Of course I was!" Lloyd said, "Who else am I going to read comic books with?" Laura smiled. She did like to read comic books but mostly manga.

"T-thank you Lloyd…" Laura said with downcast eyes. Lloyd blushed at Laura's sweeter-than-candy-voice and smiled wider.

"Aww… you two are so cute…" **Emma **said. Looking up on top of the deck, **Emma **grinned. Nya shivered as Emma seemed to look at her with those black eyes. Suddenly, **Emma** disappeared.

"Huh, looks like there is no need for a rescue mission after all…" Jay said.

"Not so fast Jay," Cole said, "We still have to save Emma."

Since it was dark, the mildly brunette wood appeared to be like trees in a forest at midnight. Laura was happy. She was back. **Emma **just woke her up in the middle of the night and said "Its time for you to go home…"

Laura was confused. She thought, _'Why did she let me go? What is going on in her head? These assessments must be intense but what are they for?'_

As Laura shivered, the cold and desert cradled her skin. Lloyd stood up. Holding his hand out to help her up, Laura looked at it for a second. Hesitant, Laura reached out and grabbed it. It felt a little ruff but not that much more than her hand. On her feet, Laura looked around at everyone else heading inside. Then her stomach growled.

"Hey, Zane" Lloyd said.

"Yes?"

"Do we have any leftover lasagna?"

* * *

As she sat on her normal chair in the dinning room since she was a creature of habit, Laura noted the dimness of the room. She felt her eyes droop to the floor, yet her hunger kept her awake. Laura wondered why Lloyd insisted that he microwave it. It would not have been hard for Laura. She knew how to feed herself. However Laura wished she knew how to cook things like Zane. She could work a stove, but she needed instructions and it could not be complicated. Her stomach grumbled again. She was sure that it would have felt quicker to make it herself because normally that is faster than waiting.

Laura looked at the door but could not see Lloyd. To her relief, she heard a ding in the kitchen. With a smile on his face, Lloyd entered the dinning room with a plate of Zane's lasagna. As he traversed the room, Laura waited for Lloyd to put it in front of her. The aroma drove her crazy. Lloyd set it down and Laura immediately started eating. While she ate, she noticed Lloyd sit next to her in his normal seat.

"Um… Laura… would it be okay if I asked why you have so many panic attacks?"

Laura stopped eating and looked at him, "Why?"

"Yeah"

Laura looked away from Lloyd. She looked at her hands that were wringing together. They felt like skeleton hands. "Well… um, I'm not completely sure. I think there would be a lot of reasons though…" Laura began to eat again.

"Okay…" Lloyd watched Laura eat. Watching her eat was all he could do besides leave. He did not feel that was right. Laura had not seen him or anyone else for a while. Lloyd did not want to leave her alone. "You know… I will never let what happened to Emma… happen to you…" he said. Laura looked at him but could not respond because she was chewing her food. However when she was done chewing, she chose not to say anything. Laura sat up.

Grabbing her finished plate scrapped free of all the wonderful sauce, Laura stood up and started to walk into the kitchen. Placing the dish carefully in the sink, she turned around and looked at the door to the dinning room. She walked to the door and turned off the kitchen light on her way out. She gripped the door frame.

"What can you do to prevent that…?" she asked.

Lloyd did not know how to prevent something like what happened to Emma to happen to Laura. He sat in his normal seat at the edge of the table in silence.

"I'll try to protect you the best I can…" Lloyd sighed, "I am the golden ninja after all."

"Thank you…" Laura said and yawned.

Laura and Lloyd left the dinning room. Laura walked a little slower on purpose. When they reached the Cosmic Legion's bedroom door, Laura grasped the doorknob and looked into Lloyd's grassy green eyes. "Goodnight… Lloyd." She said and opened the door.

"Goodnight, Laura." Lloyd said watching Laura enter the room.

While it was not a surprise with the lights being on, Laura smiled seeing the Cosmic Legion still awake. Sitting on Emma's bed, Anne and Nya were talking. Cece stepped out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. That was when she sensed something different about the mood. When Cece sat on her bed, she looked Laura in the eye and something seemed missing. Laura turned her head to Anne and Nya with a troubled expression.

"Did something happen?" Laura asked softly.

Anne looked at Laura and then to Cece. Her eyes and countenance were somber.

"Yeah… in attempt to find you, we went to the Hypnobrai tombs. It was a trap and we all got separated. **Emma **stabbed Kai in the back and Cece had to heal him. But to heal him, she gave up her emotions. It was all for some assessment. **Emma **wanted Cece to let him… die." Anne explained. Laura looked to Cece.

"I-I am so sorry! If I did not let **Emma **kidnap me—"

"It is not your fault, Laura." Cece said calmly but emotionless, "It was not your fault."

"But—"

"No, buts, you want to take a shower don't you?"

"Yeah… okay." Laura said. Quickly walking to the bathroom, she shut the door unintentionally louder than she would have liked.

In Laura's opinion, the shower head did not pour enough water forcefully enough for her tastes. Nonetheless, the hot water on her tan skin felt amazing. She could not help but take a while. She began to space out. _'I feel so guilty… People worry a lot for me… I'm not very used to it. It was all my fault too… they were going to find me! Cece said it was not my fault but I still feel guilty and sad about it. Lloyd too… he seemed to worry about me a lot while I was gone… and when Acidicus stabbed me… he saved my life… How can I repay everyone?'_

Realizing she was taking too long, Laura jumped out of the shower after washing her hair and dried herself with a towel. She got in her pajamas and left the bathroom. The lights were off so she quickly dashed to her bed. She felt her wet hair soak water into the pillow but ignored it as she fell asleep in no time.

* * *

**I am really sorry for not updating weekly! I am trying to finish this story up but it is getting hard because I am lacking inspiration. Thanks to everyone reading!**

**SergeantSarcasm7 at your service!**


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